ITALY- Museum of emigration

Museums of Italy

Museum of Emigration - Museo dell'Emigrazione

Palazzo del Podestà 06023 - Gualdo Tadino (Perugia)

Opening Hours: Mornings: from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Afternoons: from 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Closing days: Mondays, on Sunday mornings and on the mornings of festivities.

Tel./Fax : 011 39 075 9142445

Official Web Site: www.emigrazione.it

Gualdo Tadino, famous for its ceramics industry and art, lays on Sant'Angelo hill dominated by the castle "Rocca Flea". A town abounding in history, art and culture, is rooted in ancient Tadinum, its Roman ancestor on the plain on Via Flaminia. The barbarian invasions forced the survivors to seek shelter in the hills, witch were safer, and here they founded Gualdo, from the German word "walt" i.e. "wood". During the Middle Age it became a free comune, and later on it was taken over by the papal state.

There is now a Museum dedicated to an important piece of history, covering the various vicissitudes of Italians who, between 1800 and the first half of 1900, left their homeland to seek their fortune in foreign lands. In Gualdo Tadino, Umbria, the first Regional Museum of Emigration has been established.

The Podestà Palace And The Civic Tower

Are part of two thirteenth -century buildings. Nowadays they house the Museum of Emigration. The remains of various floors on the sides of the tower, show that the Podestà Palace was originally very high as was the Civic Tower. After the earthquake of 1751, it was given a brick lantern to surround the great bell. The Civic Tower was provided with extra support so that it could be made higher than previous to the Earthquake.

Gualdo Tadino and Its Pottery

Gualdo Tadino is one of the most important cities of Umbria for the production of pottery. Known in the Middle Ages as a center of ceramic ware; in the late 20th century, the ceramic industry was revived, and today Gualdo is an important center for the manufacture of industrial ceramics and bathroom fittings. With its large number of companies and the International Competition of Pottery, started and managed by PRO TADINO in 1959, the city has come in to contact with many prestigious world institutes of this field.